THE POWER OF PREPARE

A few years ago, we were on a road trip as a family. We were going camping and so our destination was in the middle of nowhere. My wife turned to me countless times and begged me to ask for directions, but I would just reassure her that I knew exactly where we were. A couple hours later one of my kids said something along the lines of: “We saw that rock earlier, Daddy.” And that’s when I knew that we had seen that rock, and the next, and the next because we had gone in one giant circle.

It’s a funny illustration, but I think this happens to us a lot of times in life. We get stuck in the same cycles. Cycles of addiction, anger, pain, loneliness, etc. But the thing is—we don’t have to keep going in circles. God wants to bring breakthrough, healing, and freedom in our lives—all we have to do is ask Him.

Prepare is a time every year that we come together as a church to do just this. We take three days to pray, fast, and seek God with everything we have. Every year, I am blown away by all that God does. He continues to restore marriages, heal diseases, bring financial breakthrough, and so much more. He is a God who hears our prayers!

This year our needs—individually, as a church, and as a nation—are greater than ever. Going into the fall and school year, I believe that it is more important than ever to press into everything that God has in store for us. So, this year we are doing something special—our first fall Prepare on August 17-19. We’re pressing in for the same spiritual impact we experience every year in our January Prepare event through prayer, fasting, and worship. But this time, we are expecting God to do so much more. If you have been feeling isolated, anxious, stuck, lonely, or even if you are in a good place, I encourage you to join in what God is doing. You can stream it online, host a watch party, or register to attend in person as we seek God together. Don’t miss this! I know God wants to meet you right where you’re at. I’m thankful for you and I’m excited to see all that God is going to do.

FAITH FOR THE FUTURE

Here at Milestone, we believe the next generation has the potential to change the world. So many of them feel the pressure to have it all figured out, but when they are put in an environment that encourages young people to follow God’s call on their lives one step at a time, the results are radical. Take a look at one young man’s story of stepping out in faith to where God was calling him.

“My whole life I have felt a strong draw towards God and even as a young man, I felt that I might go into ministry some day. I’ve always tried to make an effort to improve myself and grow in my relationship with the Lord.

Last summer I attended Milestone’s summer camp. I started to think about my future after high school and I began praying that God would show me the vision He had for my future. And to be honest, I didn’t really hear anything while I was there. It was frustrating.

However, I got the opportunity to talk with Pastor Jeff that summer and I asked if there was any way I could join a student internship or something at Milestone. I didn’t know exactly what it looked like, all I knew is that I wanted to grow. It was in that conversation that Pastor Jeff told me about his dream of starting Milestone College, and that it might soon be a reality.

I left that conversation excited, nervous, and ready for whatever was to come. I went home and started praying that God would open doors for me to attend Milestone College. Even though I was praying for this, I still wasn’t sure exactly what God was calling me to. It wasn’t until I attended the interest meeting that I was sure that God was calling me to attend Milestone College. I felt His peace like never before and I just knew.

Even though times have been hard for all of us lately. I feel like during quarantine God really prepared my heart for this next season. I’m excited to see all that he does in and through me at Milestone College.”

ONE ACT OF KINDNESS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Last Saturday we sent volunteers out to meet the needs in our community. Although Serve Day may have looked a little different this year, it was still just as impactful. But, serving others isn’t something that is limited to one day a year. It’s something that Christians are called to live out daily.

Lou Ann decided that instead of participating just on Serve Day she would serve for an entire week. Take a look at her story.

“Being a senior here at Evergreen of Keller myself, I know how lonely it can get. I know how much my neighbors and I truly appreciate things like cards, letters, phone calls, or someone spending time with them. So, I chose purposeful acts of kindness as my project. It was the perfect fit because I had time to be in touch with several people during the week and I know how much it means when someone goes out of their way to serve you.

Purposeful acts of kindness allowed me to spend more time with people on the phone, write letters, and drop by to see folks and bring them baked goods and gift cards. I wrote to people on our Bible study’s prayer list, tucked gift cards inside the letters, made visits to several of my neighbors who cannot get out for various health reasons, and took them milk shakes, bread pudding, flowers, phone cards, or paper goods and toiletries.

Just having the extra time during the week to spend with people and pray with them and hear their stories was a blessing for me. It was my pleasure and honor to serve my Lord and Milestone this week and to pray for our church family.”

SPIRITUAL FAMILY IS WORTH IT

Prayer changes everything, but sometimes we can find ourselves unsure of what to pray for or even how to do it. When we find ourselves in those moments, it’s crucial to have people surrounding us who can pray with us and for us. Check out Sonia’s story of how spiritual family helped her believe for a seemingly impossible situation.

“When I was at Milestone, I would hear people say join a small group and get plugged in. They would say things like ‘spiritual family changes everything, but I had no idea how true that would be in my own life.

In February of 2020, I came home and my husband was gone. He had taken all his belongings and changed his phone number. Our marriage had been struggling for a while, but I never thought something like this would happen. We had no communication for six months. I had never felt more alone. I was isolated and too embarrassed to tell anyone what was going on.

I got to a place where I just knew I couldn’t do it alone. So, I decided to step out and join a small group. I was still too embarrassed to open up or share with anyone. I felt an overwhelming amount of shame. That day, however, I decided to join a small group, and it changed my life. The support that I felt from my spiritual family was something that I never knew was possible.

They encouraged me to pray for my husband and believe God for reconciliation. They had faith for my situation when I didn’t have enough for myself. I don’t think I would have been able to pray and fight for my husband without them. So, naturally they were the first people I told when my husband reached back out to me for the first time.

After six months of no contact and a lot of prayer, I received a text from my husband. He said that he had an encounter with God and wanted to reconcile our relationship! I was so overwhelmed and thankful.

The healing process wasn’t easy, but walking through it with our spiritual family was everything. Now, I’m happy to say that we are in a much better place, and I am six months pregnant with our first child! It’s just crazy to see the power of spiritual family and prayer.

It wasn’t easy to jump into a small group and share with them all my brokenness.. But, I’m so thankful that I decided to jump in, because I honestly don’t know where I would be without them.

SPIRITUAL FAMILY CHANGES EVERYTHING

Our world can seem so overwhelming right now. There seem to be so many problems all around us. But instead of letting it drive us away from spiritual family, we should be running towards it. Check out Nick and Jillian’s story of how coming back to church changed the health of their marriage and family.

“In August of 2018, Jillian was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went through the first drug treatment, and after 2019 was cleared. Coming into 2020, we were feeling really good. We had our health, we were more involved at church, our business was doing well, and we were even planning on building our dream home.

Then Covid hit. I was worried at first but I was also just thankful that we still had our health. Except about a month and a half later we got the news that Jillian’s cancer was back.

And just like that everything changed. We went from being a young, healthy family, to having to tell our boys they couldn’t play with their friends, because we couldn’t risk exposing their mom. We had to stop going to everything. We were completely isolated.

I vividly remember this moment where I thought, ‘I don’t know what I need. I don’t know what I’m missing. I feel more lost than I’ve ever felt in my life. I feel like I am truly in danger of turning my back on God.’

In that moment, I remember what one of the pastors at Milestone had said to me. He said, it’s okay to be angry with God– it’s okay to question God. But, when you turn your back on God, that’s when it’s really bad. That’s when you’re really in danger. That is absolutely where I was at.

We had a month window where Jillian wasn’t going through treatment, and we decided to go back to church. We didn’t know how bad we needed it. That first moment of just stepping back into the building changed everything.

You don’t really know how much it impacts and encourages you when you worship with other people until you have gone without it.

I know that like we were, a lot of families are feeling lonely, isolated, and disconnected right now. I would encourage those people to take that next step and get connected, because it really does change everything. We all need spiritual family.”